DeSantis, Gillum split on health care, as reforms stall in Legislature, Congress
The nominees for
Whoever wins will have trouble getting any health plan through the Legislature, where a political stalemate over the issue has formed in the past five years.
Gillum also supports something state lawmakers likely would have no say in at all: Medicare for All, a federal bill backed by Sen.
"When I'm governor, my administration will avail itself of every tool at our disposal to compel the Legislature to expand health care access to millions of Floridians," Gillum said in an emailed statement. "I will fight for Medicaid expansion, Medicare for All, and essential protections for women's health care and pre-existing conditions -- while my opponent wants to make this crisis even worse by stripping these essential protections and refusing to expand Medicaid."
The Medicare for All bill hasn't moved in the Republican-controlled
In
Gillum has spoken of trying to join with other large states like
"I don't see that quite happening in the next year or two but it's getting more traction in the country as a whole," said
Gillum's plans for breaking the political stalemate and getting Medicaid expansion through the Legislature are also unclear. He believes his veto power as governor will force Republican leaders to the table, but there's also the possibility of using executive orders or proposing a ballot measure to make an end-run around lawmakers.
Medicaid funding is
DeSantis' campaign says he will unveil a detailed health care plan in the next two weeks. He has consistently opposed Obamacare, voting to repeal it many times as a member of
The program, which pays for health care for the poor, elderly and those with complex medical needs, wasn't intended for able-bodied adults who would get coverage under expansion, he said. Instead, he wants to rely on an improving economy with better-paying jobs that will help people afford coverage.
"We've got to increase access and drive down costs on health care," DeSantis said in an email. "The best way we can do that is to make sure we are creating an environment where everyone has a great education that leads to a job where they are covered or they have the ability to buy their own insurance in the market."
DeSantis also indicated he would back proposals to install direct primary care models, in which patients pay a monthly rate directly to doctors and cut out insurers. He said he would expand telemedicine and ease regulations for building new hospitals. Such policies would add private-sector competition and lower prices, he argues.
But DeSantis would face his own political hurdles in getting those ideas through the Legislature. Similar bills have been pushed by House Republican leaders in recent years, only to fail to make it through the more moderate
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